Dog rebuilt by 40 vets for £11,500 after being run over and left for dead

When Ruby the lurcher bounds about and wags her tail, her owners aren't the only ones delighted. A team of 40 vets and nurses helped get the three-year-old back on her feet after she was left with horrific injuries when hit by a car. For two months, they gave Ruby round-the-clock care as she endured a series of operations at a cost of £11,500.

With a little help from my friends: Ruby and some of her medical team

And now she is recovering, her cheerful disposition still firmly in place, they feel just as proud as her owners. Ruby was left with fractures to her two front legs, sternum and toe, a dislocated knee, ruptured ligaments and internal bleeding when she was struck by the car on January 26.

All better now: Ruby the lurcher, who endured a series of operations costing £11,500

'Ruby was in a very bad way,' said owner Vanessa Gillespie. 'But because she did not have any head injuries the vets said if she could live through the next 24 hours she had a good chance. 'She is doing brilliantly now. She has been on cage rest for a month and only allowed to noodle around the kitchen. 'Her legs will take about five months to heal totally but in herself she is happy, sweet-natured and an inspiration to the rest of us. The vet said he had never seen a dog so broken still so happy. Most dogs would not have survived but Ruby is a toughie.' Ruby was run over in the village of Cambourne in Cambridgeshire. She was taken to Cromwell Veterinary Group Hospital in Huntingdon but was later transferred to Queen's Veterinary School Hospital in Cambridge. She spent five weeks there and had two major operations. The first, on January 28, was a nine-hour procedure in which her broken legs were repaired using four metal plates and screws. Two weeks later a soft tissue and orthopaedic team performed a seven-hour operation to replace the ruptured knee ligaments, carry out skin grafts and amputate the broken toe. The fractured breastbone and internal bleeding were left to heal naturally. Mrs Gillespie said £10,000 of the bill was covered by insurance and she would have to find the rest. 'If she had not been insured we would have had to put her down,' she said. Orthopaedic surgeon Dr Heidi Radke said the dog was expected to make a full recovery. 'Ruby is a fantastically cheerful dog,' she said. 'When she first came in she was unable to stand and could barely lift her head but as soon as she felt a bit better she would try to wag her tail.'

This x-ray, above shows Ruby's lower foreleg before it was pinned

Here the shattered bone has been pinned together following surgery

This x-ray shows the upper foreleg before it was pinned, left, and right, after the reconstruction